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Again.

I inhale slowly, my lips brushing her skin.

“Rylan.” There’s amusement in her voice.

“Give me a moment.”

Give us the whole night.

Another image flashes through my mind. The files swept aside. Selena beneath me on the desk, her fingers tangled in my hair as I kiss my way down her body.

Heat settles low in my stomach.

Enough.

We haven’t even started.

Selena reaches for the top file on the rejected stack.

“Marcus Webb.”

“Yes.”

Her gaze flicks over the page before returning to me.

“The same Marcus I put on the ground.”

“I remember.” I glance at the folder. “He’s fortunate I only rejected his application. My restraint is the reason his throat is still attached.”

She laughs softly.

She handled him beautifully, my Lycan says. Would have enjoyed finishing him.

I kiss the corner of her mouth.

“He wasn’t worthy of standing beside you then,” I say. “A service record hasn’t changed that.”

“He still believes strength entitles him to authority.”

“Then he can continue believing it without a Beta title.”

Selena returns his file to the stack. I tighten my arm around her waist.

“Whoever stands beside us needs to protect this pack, including the wolves who can offer them nothing in return. Marcus has already shown us who he is.”

She reaches for the next file, reads the name, and leaves it unopened. That small movement tells me enough.

“They watched when I was beaten,” she says. “Some participated. Others stood close enough to hear everything and decided it wasn’t their concern.”

My fingers tighten against her waist.

“Now they walk into your study and present their credentials.” Her voice remains measured. “Have any of them acknowledged what they did?”

“No.”

“Have any admitted they were wrong?”

I shake my head.